IBM WebSphere Developer Technical Journal: System Administration for WebSphere Application Server V5 -- Part 1

IBM WebSphere Developer Technical Journal: System Administration for WebSphere Application Server V5 -- Part 1: "This is Part 1 of a series that describes a variety of ways to use the WebSphere Application Server V5 management features. Part 1 introduces the basic system administration concepts necessary to understand V5 features.
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Introduction
IBM � WebSphere� Application Server (hereafter called Application Server) Version 5.0 provides enhancements to scalability, reliability, Web services, J2EETM 1.3 certification, and many other areas. Version 5.0 also provides a completely rewritten infrastructure for you to manage and administer your servers and applications. An open standards-based management framework, JavaTM Management Extensions (JMX) is at the core of the 5.0 management capabilities. New administration tool sets built for Version 5.0 take advantage of this framework. Also, you can use the Version 5.0 administration tool capabilities for your own custom administration programs.
This system administration series will discuss a variety of ways to use the Application Server 5.0 management features. Part 1 introduces the basic system administration concepts needed to understand Version 5.0 features. The first important concept to grasp is the new packaging structure for Application Server 5.0. To understand Application Server administration, you also need to familiarize yourself with the following concepts: servers, nodes and node agents, cells, and the deployment manager. It is important that you understand the various processes in the administrative topology and the operating environment in which they apply."